WPP Share News (WPP)

LONDON (Alliance News) - Insurer Prudential is the second biggest decliner in the FTSE 100 Tuesday after a strong set of financial results were overshadowed by news that Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam will leave to become the new CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse.

Prudential shares are down 2.9%, just behind Tullow Oil, down 4.9%.

Antogafasta shares also are weighing on the FTSE 100, with the miner off 1.9%, after saying a court in Chile has ordered it to tear down part, or all, of a tailings dam.

Here is what you need to know at the UK market open:
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MARKETS
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FTSE 100: down 0.2% at 6,864.39
FTSE 250: flat at 17,172.77
AIM ALL-SHARE: down 0.1% at 715.31
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Hang Seng: closed down 0.9% at 23,896.98
Nikkei 225: closed down 0.7% at 18,665.11
DJIA: closed up 0.8% at 17,995.72
S&P 500: closed up 0.4% at 2,079.43
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GBP-USD: down at USD1.5080
EUR-USD: down at USD1.0796

GOLD: down at USD1,157.93 per ounce
OIL (Brent): down at USD58.08 a barrel

(changes since end of previous GMT day)
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ECONOMICS AND GENERAL
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Tuesday's Key Economic Events still to come
(all times in GMT)

EU EcoFin Meeting
09:00 Italy Industrial Output
12:00 US NFIB Business Optimism Index
12:55 US Redbook index
14:00 US JOLTS Job Openings
14:00 US Wholesale Inventories
14:35 UK BOE Governor Carney speech
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Like-for-like retail sales in the UK were up 0.2% on year in February, the British Retail Consortium said. That was unchanged from the previous month, although it fell short of forecasts for an increase of 0.5%. Overall retail sales were up 1.7% on year, the BRC said - up slightly from 1.6% in the previous month. "So far, 2015 has been positive for both retailers and consumers and it shows no signs yet of changing course," said BRC director general Helen Dickinson.
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China's inflation accelerated more than expected from a five-year low in February but producer prices declined the most since late 2009 underscoring the persistent risk of deflation. Inflation rose to 1.4% in February from 0.8% in the prior month, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics showed. It was forecast to increase moderately to 1%.
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French industrial production grew unexpectedly in January from the prior month, data from the statistical office Insee revealed. Industrial production rose 0.4% month-on-month, defying expectations for a 0.3% fall. This was the second consecutive rise in output. Nonetheless, the rate of growth was weaker than the revised 1.4% expansion seen in December.
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Eurozone finance ministers urged Greece to speed up reforms to successfully conclude the review and reinforced that there will be no rolling-back on measures previously agreed. Eurogroup Chairman Jeroen Dijsselbloem said, "We agreed today that there is no further time to lose." Greece will resume talks with lenders in Brussels on Wednesday. "The discussions between the Greek authorities and the institutions must and will start as from Wednesday," Dijsselbloem added. The debate about who meets who and where in what configuration had been a complete waste of time, Dijsselbloem said at a press conference in Brussels. "There can be no talk of early disbursements if there is no agreement and no implementation," Jeroen Dijsselbloem said after the ministers met in Brussels.
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US President Barack Obama and European Council President Donald Tusk called for unity on Ukraine and discussed Europe's security challenges, including terrorism. Obama saluted German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Francois Hollande for their work in establishing the Minsk ceasefire process. "But we also know from experiences over the last year that unless we have strong monitoring and strong implementation, that these agreements will be meaningless," Obama said at the Oval Office meeting.
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BROKER RATING CHANGES
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GOLDMAN RAISES NATIONAL GRID TO 'NEUTRAL' ('SELL') - TARGET 941 (851) PENCE
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GOLDMAN RAISES HSBC TO 'BUY' ('NEUTRAL') - PRICE TARGET 740 (730) PENCE
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TRADERS: NUMIS RAISES SCHRODERS TO 'ADD' ('HOLD')
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GOLDMAN CUTS RIGHTMOVE TO 'NEUTRAL' ('CONVICTION BUY') - PRICE TARGET 3157 (3616) PENCE
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TRADERS: NOMURA INITIATES POUNDLAND GROUP WITH 'REDUCE'
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BARCLAYS CUTS SEGRO TO 'EQUAL WEIGHT' ('OVERWEIGHT') - PRICE TARGET 432 (380.5) PENCE
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COMPANIES - FTSE 100
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Prudential reported a big increase in profit for 2014, helped by growth in its key Asian markets, the UK and the US, but the results were overshadowed by news that Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam will leave to become the new CEO of Swiss bank Credit Suisse. Credit Suisse confirmed media reports that its current Chief Executive Brady Dougan is to step down and will be replaced by Thiam in June. However, his replacement is yet to be confirmed, despite a report that Mike Wells, an executive director and the CEO of its Jackson National Life Insurance Company, is to succeed him at the helm. "As would be expected of a FTSE 100 company, the board is always focused on succession planning and a process has already examined a range of external and internal candidates. We are fortunate to have a very strong management team across the group and we have identified a successor and expect to be able to announce a new CEO once the regulatory approval process has been completed," Paul Manduca, chairman, said in a statement.
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Antofagasta said the Civil Court of Los Vilos has ordered the company's subsidiary to tear down part, or all, of the tailings dam wall at the Los Pelambres project in Chile after it rejected the company's plans over fears of the dam affecting the flow of water. Antofagasta said its subsidiary will appeal the decision as it believes the work it has carried out should be sufficient to comply with the court's orders. In the meantime, the company can continue to operate the dam until the appeal process is finalised.
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WPP said it has agreed to buy a minority stake in FlowNetwork, a new Swedish over-the-top television service that delivers its programmes via the internet and also supplies Sweden's regional newspapers with content. The media buying giant didn't give any financial details about the deal.
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Miner BHP Billiton said it will reaffirm its ongoing commitment to safely maximising returns on installed capacity at its Western Australia Iron Ore business or WAIO. WAIO achieved record production of 124 million tonnes in the first half and is on track to deliver 245 million tonnes in the 2015 financial year. Speaking in Perth at the annual Global Iron Ore and Steel Forecast Conference, BHP Billiton President Iron Ore, Jimmy Wilson, will highlight the exceptional returns from the company's productivity agenda. "For the first half of this financial year the team has delivered a solid underlying EBIT margin of 49% and a return on assets of 34%," Wilson said. Wilson will also reiterate WAIO is on track to achieve unit cash costs of less than USD20 per tonne through a relentless pursuit of equipment availability and utilisation, efficient procurement and supply management and capital and workforce productivity.
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COMPANIES - FTSE 250
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Automotive retailer and distributor Inchcape said its pretax profit declined due to exceptional costs, but the company reported a rise in revenue and hiked its dividend. FTSE 250-listed Inchcape said its pretax profit for 2014 was GBP255.8 million, down from GBP266.1 million last year due to a GBP47.4 million goodwill impairment charge the company booked on its Russian operations. Stripping out exceptional costs, pretax profit rose to GBP303.2 million from GBP274.6 million. The company will pay a final dividend of 13.8 pence, up 18% on the 11.7 pence paid a year earlier. Its total dividend for the year will be 20.1 pence, up 15.5% on the 17.4 pence it paid in 2013.
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Insurer esure Group reported a fall in pretax profit for 2014, blaming motor insurance market conditions and costs related to the acquisition of the remaining parts of GoCompare, as gross written premiums fell and the group cut its final dividend. The FTSE 250 constituent said its pretax profit for 2014 was GBP103.3 million, down 13% on the GBP118.4 million posted a year earlier due to the challenging conditions in the motor insurance market and due to costs related to the acquisition of the 50% of price comparison service GoCompare that it did not already own. The company said it would pay a final dividend of 11.7 pence per share, down from 13.3 pence last year. Its full-year dividend is 16.8 pence, above the 15.8 pence per share posted last year.
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Ocado Group reported strong growth in sales for the first quarter of its financial year, driven by a large increase in average orders per week even though the average size of each order fell slightly. The online grocery company, which has also teamed with Wm Morrison Supermarkets PLC to be its online delivery company, also said it expects to continue growing slightly ahead of the overall online grocery market. Gross sales in the 12 weeks to February 22 were GBP271.1 million, up from GBP227.5 million in the 12 weeks to February 23, 2014.
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Grafton Group reported a strong increase in pretax profit for 2014, as the continued recovery in the housing markets in both the UK and Ireland drove up revenue in its merchanting business, and it said its outlook remains favourable because those markets are set to remain strong. The Irish builders merchanting and DIY company reported a pretax profit of GBP80.0 million for 2014, up from GBP62.0 million in 2013, as revenue rose to GBP2.08 billion, from GBP1.90 billion, and its underlying operating profit margin rose to 5.3% from 4.1%. It raised its dividend for the year to 10.75 pence, from 8.5p.
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SEGRO said it has exchanged contract to sell its recently completed Energy Park office campus near Milan to Hines Italia SGR for EUR118.7 million, or about GBP85.4 million, a 5% premium to the property's book value at the end of 2014 and representing a net initial yield of 7.3%. It expects the deal to complete in the second quarter of 2015.
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FirstGroup has lodged an application to start running trains on the East Coast main line, putting itself into direct competition with Virgin Trains, the Financial Times reported. The transport company has lodged the application with the Office of Rail Regulation to start running trains on the line in 2018 and, if successful, will put on 10 daily services between King's Cross and Edinburgh, the paper said.
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COMPANIES - LONDON MAIN MARKET AND AIM
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Goals Soccer Centres reported a steep drop in pretax profit for 2014 due to charges related to the cancellation of an interest rate swap as part of its balance sheet restructuring , but its operating profit was broadly flat as the strength of sterling weighed on the growth it achieved in the US and UK margins declined. The company, which runs 45 five-a-side soccer centres in the UK and one in Los Angeles reported a pretax profit of GBP6.8 million for 2014, down from GBP9.6 million in 2013, largely due to a GBP2.8 million expense related to the cancellation of an interest rate swap. Despite this, the company raised its full-year dividend to 2.00 pence, from 1.85p.
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COMPANIES - INTERNATIONAL
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Apple launched its first new product line since the iPad, entering the emerging wearables market with its Apple Watch - and in the process, underscoring the company's transition from computer maker to luxury brand. The Apple Watch is in essence a tiny computer that interfaces with an iPhone while strapped to the wrist. But functionality shared top billing with fashion at Apple's launch event at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Centre for the Arts. The watch that Apple chief executive Tim Cook called the "most advanced timepiece ever" starts at USD349 for a basic aluminium model and ranges up to USD17,000 for a solid 18k rose gold version.
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US chip maker Qualcomm will buy back up to USD15 billion of its own shares, the company said. It had decided on the "major increase" in the company's capital return programme "to deliver value for stockholders," after the stock fell 5% over the past 12 months. The share price rose 3% when the move was announced after the close of trading. The board also approved a 14% increase in its cash dividend, to an annualized USD1.92 per share.
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German utility RWE reported that its net income attributable to shareholders for fiscal 2014 was EUR1.704 billion compared to a loss of EUR2.757 billion in the prior year. The operating result fell to EUR4.0 billion, a drop of 25% year on year. Persistently low prices on the wholesale electricity market and the unusually mild weather affected RWE AG's business performance in 2014, its said.
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Tuesday's Scheduled AGMs/EGMs

Circle Oil
Image Scan Holdings
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By Tom Waite; thomaslwaite@alliancenews.com; @thomaslwaite

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